Theaters' Lost Luster Lamented

Aldermen Livid Over Landmark Panel's Actions

June 03, 1999|By Gary Washburn, Tribune Staff Writer.

City bureaucrats and the Commission on Chicago Landmarks overstepped their authority, causing irreparable harm to two city jewels: the Loop's Harris and Selwyn Theatres, two angry aldermen charged Wednesday.

"I am absolutely appalled with what has happened," declared Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd). "This is a complete misuse of power. . . . I think this smacks of a lawsuit. The city should be sued by a private citizen."

"You just can't destroy them without permission," Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) fumed at city Planning Department officials who attended a City Council Finance Committee meeting where the theaters were discussed. "And that is what you have done."

The interior of the Selwyn, at Dearborn and Lake Streets, has been gutted and holes punched into its outer walls, while all that remains of the adjacent Harris is its ornate terra-cotta facade.

The remnants of both buildings will be incorporated into a complex, now under construction along Dearborn Street between Lake and Randolph Streets, that will be the new home of the Goodman Theatre.

Stone and Natarus contended that the City Council has sole authority to approve demolition of official city landmarks such as the Harris and Selwyn.

But Planning Department officials later produced a section of city code that shows the Landmarks Commission must approve permits calling for "alteration, construction, reconstruction, erection, demolition, relocation or other work" involving designated landmarks.

Original landmarks legislation was passed by the council in 1967 and "extensive revisions" were approved in 1987 when the council "essentially ceded authority over the permit review process," said Becky Carroll, a Planning Department spokeswoman.

"They want to play games with me?" Stone responded. "I will play games. I can introduce an ordinance and, if I can convince 25 other aldermen, I can put the commission out of business.

"It was never intended the Landmarks Commission should have those kinds of powers, and we will see to it they won't have them much longer."

After reviewing the law later, Natarus acknowledged that the commission "probably has the power" to authorize changes to landmark buildings, but he said he was drafting an amendment that would require council approval of major alterations.

Wednesday's debate also raised questions of a possible conflict of interest involving Albert Friedman, a Chicago real estate executive who is acting chairman of the commission and whose firm recently became the developer of a commercial component of the Goodman complex.

Attempts to reach Friedman for comment were unsuccessful.

Carroll said that Friedman, though a member of the commission at the time the partial demolition was approved in 1997, was not its head and did not serve on the commission's permit review committee.

"To revitalize and bring back the Theatre District, we need to work with the right developers, the kind who can take on costly and complicated projects," Carroll said. "He has a history of getting that kind of job done."

The commission has nine members, all appointed by the mayor with council approval.

The $56 million Goodman complex is receiving $18.5 million in city assistance. In addition to a main stage and a 400-seat studio theater, it will have a restaurant and stores.

The Harris and Selwyn opened in 1922 as legitimate theaters. Before shutting down several years ago, they had declined physically and artistically, playing host to X-rated movies.

In the end, the facades were the only portions of the buildings that were deemed salvagable, Carroll said.

Also on the landmarks front, the commission Wednesday recommended landmark designation for the Reebie Storage Warehouse, 2325 N. Clark St. The distinctive 1920s-era building has multicolored terra cotta ornamentation.